KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A minor died and five people were transported to hospitals after Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department crews combated a house fire Sunday morning in the 8300 block of 103rd NE Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri.
Firefighters located a deceased juvenile girl inside the home hours after initially responding to the fire at 2:40 a.m.
Before fire crews arrived, Alexis Garner and Douglas Fleming, who live next-door to the home, woke up to the blaze in the early morning hours and immediately leapt into action.
Garner ran over to the home to see two twin boys hanging out a window, gasping for air.
"Just thinking about the looks on their faces in that window with all the smoke coming out, it was very terrifying," Garner said.
The father of the family that lived in the home dropped his twin boys down to Fleming, before getting his wife out of the home and exiting the residence himself, according to the neighbors.
"I immediately got the kids, wrapped them up in blankets and took them over to our house to get them more out of harm's way," Garner said.
The eldest daughter of the family was nowhere to be found, so Fleming said he and another neighbor entered the home, attempting to locate her.
"The flames and the smoke was just too much for us, so we had to back out," Fleming said.
When KCFD crews arrived, they witnessed heavy fire and smoke from a two-story house upon arrival to the scene.
The evacuated occupants of the home told firefighters that the eldest daughter, who has special needs, was still in the home.
KCFD crews attempted an interior attack, but the blaze was too advanced.
First responders transported three minors suffering from smoke inhalation to an area hospital.
One adult was taken to a hospital with minor injuries after jumping out a window, while another was also transported for smoke inhalation.
KCFD updated around 9:50 a.m. Sunday that the minor who had been missing was found deceased in the basement of the home.
Because it is a fatal fire, KCPD's bomb and arson unit is leading the investigation.
Fleming said the impacted family is very involved with their community and neighbors.
"Everybody knows the whole family, they're great people," Fleming said. "Him (the father) and I are very close and it's just tragic what has happened to them."
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